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thick strings vs thin strings, which generates more power?

a bit confused here.

I've been using bg80 all my life, switching between 80 and 85. 85 is thinner, and with more repulsion. Which suppose to mean that it should be able to generate more power. From what i've been told repulsion = power + control.

Lately, I had a tight budget on strings, and i've decided to try bg 65ti. I got it because 1) i've NEVER played with .70mm only stuck to .68 and less. 2) ran out of bg 80s and 85s, and it cost a lot to string those 3) needed longer lasting strings.

What i've noticed is that i hit a lot better with bg 65ti and it feels so much more crisp compared to bg 80 and my smash is much faster.

tension i used has always been 25-26 lbs

why is it that with 65 ti i can hit a lot harder than with 80s and 85s?

Do stiffer strings actually generate more power then thinner strings?
or are they both the same, and its the tension that separates them apart?
ie. inorder to get the same feeling as bg80s strung at 26, i would have to string bg65ti at 30?
and why do people prefer to use thinner strings over thicker strings?

I've recently fixed my technique but i haven't tested out bg80s yet because i haven't snapped any of my strings.

your profile shows you're playing plastic shuttles...
which would require thicker string with softer feel at 2-3 lbs less tension as compared to feather birds

just the way that plastic hits differently than feather due to the softer skirt and heavier cork head

I've played feathers at Lee's before with areoplane black with 65 ti @ 25 lbs and for fun with my other friend. with 65 ti it felt a lot better than hitting plastic. But then again, I really haven't played with bg80 on feathers so i won't be able to distinguish the difference. I plan to try bg80 on feathers soon when i get back home.

based on my personal opinion and tons of experiences of switching various YY strings, your hitting techniques contribute just about 70% of your shoots. 10% would go for the racket, 10% comes from the right shuttlecocks at the right indoor's temperature you are playing, 5% would result from the right tension you put on, and another 5% comes from the string your are used to & feel the most comfortable. (Don't bother too much on the fame of the strings since they are basically serve the same purpose)

In your case, if you are mainly using plastic shuttlecock in indoor court... then you might need to consider having less repulsive power to avoid hitting the shuttle outside the court (thicker string). If you use feather shuttlecock (look at the flight speed & recommended indoor's temperature) then go for repulsive strings. Again, you should know the tension (19~30Lbs) in which you are comfortable & very familiar with.

Generally speaking, the higher the tension is the more power its gonna generate. When it comes to tension, the thicker the string the more tolerance it would be. So basically thicker strings generates more power.

Then it comes to feel, repulsion, rough or fine texture, control and feel which is other essential parts of a string characteristics. Speaking of which its all down to personal preferences.

Hold on, what is the difference between repulsion and power? I thought they are the same thing? And i was always under the impression that the thinner, the string, the more power it packs. No? Can soemone please verify?

Repulsion is the feedback force when shuttle hit the stringbed.
Physics said that thin string will generate more force than thick string
(assumption tension and hitting speed & power are the same)
Like a knife will be more powerful when the edge is sharp (small area) than blunt (large area)

I prefer thin string for the repulsion.I can save a lot of energy to play.
Thin string will generate a lot of repulsion.
Repulsion and Power differences take place after a shuttlecock been hit.

From my experience,thick string will provide great smashes,
because shuttlecock hold the power of our energy.
So,the shuttlecock will flew consistently fast and solid (hard smashes)

Thin string will provide great clears,
shuttlecock just flew fast but didn't hold the power from our energy for a long time.
it feels like shuttlecock flew extremely fast at first,but it slows down after a few seconds.
the smashes feel not so hard at all. . .

Repulsion is the feedback force when shuttle hit the stringbed.
Physics said that thin string will generate more force than thick string
(assumption tension and hitting speed & power are the same)
Like a knife will be more powerful when the edge is sharp (small area) than blunt (large area)

I prefer thin string for the repulsion.I can save a lot of energy to play.
Thin string will generate a lot of repulsion.
Repulsion and Power differences take place after a shuttlecock been hit.

From my experience,thick string will provide great smashes,
because shuttlecock hold the power of our energy.
So,the shuttlecock will flew consistently fast and solid (hard smashes)

Thin string will provide great clears,
shuttlecock just flew fast but didn't hold the power from our energy for a long time.
it feels like shuttlecock flew extremely fast at first,but it slows down after a few seconds.
the smashes feel not so hard at all. . .

In terms of absolute power, one needs to have the criteria stated in post #6 and one of them being tension. Generally speaking the higher the tension is the more power you would generate provided you have the right technique and strength.

For instance a thick string can take up to 30 over lbs in tension and produces powerful smashes whereas a thin one would snap at 28lbs during stringing, the characteristic of the string alone is telling.

So basically thin string produces better repulsion and when it comes to power, thicker string has the potential.

High tension will make the stringbed like a steel board,great hard smashes and hitting sound,easy shuttles control.
but it need more effort to hit the shuttles because of reduced string repulsion (not so easy to bounce)

Low tension will make the stringbed like rubber board,easy to clears.
but it will harder to control the shuttles because of too repulsive.

Today I played with red areoplane and COULDN'T get any power from my rackets. After reading everything here, I think I am going to try bg80 and go for repulsion i guess since most you guys are saying that umm, when playing feather, I just use thinner strings and thicker strings for plastic.

If I couldn't even generate any power from 26 lbs with 65 ti should I string lower with bg80? would it take it easier for me to hit more effortlessly? Because even when I wanted to do a clear, I felt like I had to put so much effort behind it.

Today I played with red areoplane and COULDN'T get any power from my rackets. After reading everything here, I think I am going to try bg80 and go for repulsion i guess since most you guys are saying that umm, when playing feather, I just use thinner strings and thicker strings for plastic.

If I couldn't even generate any power from 26 lbs with 65 ti should I string lower with bg80? would it take it easier for me to hit more effortlessly? Because even when I wanted to do a clear, I felt like I had to put so much effort behind it.

everyone has their optimum tension depending on their strength and technique. I've found that if you're off your ideal tension by 3-4lb, there shouldn't be a significant downgrade in performance.
I've played tournaments with strings ranging from 20-30lb. And although I get the most power (I think) at around 27lb, there's very little power loss if I stay between 24-31lb. I'll start losing a noticeable level of power if I go below 23lb. But even at 20lb, I can still remain fairly competitive.

Moral of the story is, if I hit harder than you now, chances are I'll still hit harder than you no matter what combination of string and tension you decide to use. String/tension are for fine tuning that last 2%, but will not completely change your game.

I believe it might be too high for me, but its what I am use to playing at :c I didn't seem to have a problem with it until now lol

Urameatball

Why is it that I can hit faster/harder with black areoplane then? :s I used the same technique to hit and I don't think there is anything wrong with it now as i changed it. Something basic, like clearing, I had to put in a lot of effort to hit red areoplane, which is something that never happened to me when I hit black areoplane. (using the same tension and strings). Its the same when I switch from mavis 300 blues to greens. I can't seem to generate power effortlessly like when I use blues. I don't get it :s